Think of Me
by ValerieViolette
Summary: It was just supposed to be a regular night after he got home from that party. He wasn't expecting her to be there, and he wasn't expecting what a drastic change in pace his life was about to take… [Characters are anonymous until the end of the story].
1. Chapter 1

His night had started off quite normal. He was preparing to go to a friend's welcome-back party, though, in all honesty, this "friend" was more of an acquaintance that he had more than occasional conversations with. All clarifications aside, he left his apartment with all of his intentions to show his friend a good time. But all of those good intentions ended quite early into the night. It seems that not being around someone for nearly a year can give you clarity about their character. It apparently never came to his mind that his friend may have been an absolute jerk that didn't understand personal boundaries, especially when it came to women. After being at the party for nearly an hour, he left under the guise of getting more drinks from the corner store.

It was 9:20 p.m., and raining quite hard when he started walking home. Thankfully, he only lived fifteen minutes away, so it wouldn't be that big a deal for him. In fact, he really liked the rain, especially the sounds it makes as it hits the umbrella. He didn't really think of anything as he was walking, just looking around the streets as the cars passed by or the people running, trying to find shelter from the pouring rain. He smirked a little, and continued on his way.

When he got back to his apartment building, he didn't quite expect to see the scene that was in front of him. A young woman, completely soaked to the bone, ringing for someone to let her into the gated apartment building. He stood back for a few moments, just watching her. The buzz of her ringing over and over again was starting to numb his hearing. He cleared his throat. "Excuse me, miss," he said. The young woman turned to look at him. Her red hair was stuck to her pale face.

He recognized her.

She recognized him.

They stood there frozen for minutes.

And then they went inside together.


	2. Chapter 2

They sat a seat cushion apart from each other on his couch. They were drinking tea. The room was eerily quiet, despite the fact it was raining so hard outside. It was like the whole apartment was soundproof.

She had taken a shower, and was now wearing a pair of his pajamas. Her wet clothes were drying over the heater. She stared blankly at the wall in front of her. She didn't seem like she was going to talk, much less explain why she was standing outside his apartment building in pouring rain.

He fiddled with his tea cup. What was he supposed to do? What was he supposed to say? Was he _supposed_ to say anything? Did he just have to wait for her to say something to him? This silence was getting to him, and it had only been a few minutes since they sat down. He squirmed in little.

"Do I make you feel uncomfortable?" she suddenly asked.

"What?"

She turned her head ever so slightly. "Someone you haven't seen in over a year suddenly shows up at your apartment," she said. "You're bound to be uncomfortable, right?" She looked at him and smirked a little. "Your face still gives everything away, you know that? It's like you're transparent…"

"You still don't know when to let up on unnecessary comments," he said. He sipped his tea.

She swirled hers around in its cup. "I can leave, you know…but this will be the last time you'll ever see me…"

"Why is that?" She didn't give an answer, but he knew better. He knew _her_ better. "You don't have to leave, just…let's just talk, okay?"

And that's just what they did.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm not going to tell you why I'm here," she said. She turned her head, and looked at him. "That's what you want to know, right?"

He managed to smile. "I've known you long enough to accept whatever you do." He looked at her, and saw her frown for a second before going back to normal. "But…"

"But what?"

"But aren't there other people you could go to?" Her eyes slowly went down to her cup of tea. "I mean, we haven't seen each other for a year. I'm sure there are other people you would like to see…people that you have a better relationship with." She was quiet for a while, and the apartment returned to its eerie quiet. He swallowed what little saliva was in his mouth, and took a sip of his tea.

"I can leave if you don't want me here," she said.

"Can you please stop threatening to leave?"

"I'm not threatening; I'm just stating a fact."

"Okay, then stops stating facts."

"Why should I?"

He stopped, and sighed. He put his cup on the small table in front of them, and turned his body towards her. She kept her eyes downward, and her body turned away from him. "Okay," he said. "Can we just stop with this…arguing?"

"I wouldn't call it arguing; it's more like bickering."

He kept himself from sighing, and instead moved closer to her, and put a hand on her shoulder. Her head twitched at his touch, making her damp hair move across her back. The back of his grey shirt was stained a dark grey from her hair. Even through the shirt, he could feel that she was freezing cold. "Maybe you should get closer to the heater," he suggested. She shook her head.

"I made a decision to never come back."

"Yeah, I remember."

She smiled. "No, not that one," she said, "I made a new one…one that I'm going to keep." She turned her head, and looked at him. "I just…I just wanted to let you know. Just you…" He stared at her for a long moment. She looked away, and stared at the wall in front of her again.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you going to leave again?"

"Why?" She turned and smirked at him. "Do you not want me to?" He snorted a little. "What is it?"

"Nothing," he said. "It's just…this is sort of like the last time we saw each other. We had a similar conversation that night." He moved back to his original spot on the couch, his eyes falling to the floor. "This is bringing back some unpleasant memories, you know."

"Unpleasant memories of me leaving you, or—" she suddenly moved over, and touched his shoulder "—just of me?"

"Do—"

"Which one is it?"

They sat there quietly, staring at each other. He didn't want to look her in the eye, but she always had this pull that made him anyway. She had a serious look on her face, and her eyes were watery. "Are you about to cry?"

She laughed, removing her hand from his shoulder, and turning away. "I don't cry. You know that."

He watched her profile. "It's not a bad thing to cry, you know?" She looked back at him.

"Just answer my question."

He was quiet for a few moments as she stared at him. He thought that, maybe, it was just a trick of his eyes. But as he looked at her, he became sure that it wasn't: her eyes were very watery, and there was no way she could pretend they weren't. "It brings back some unpleasant memories of you." She quickly looked at the wall before down at her lap. She had a faint smile on her face. "Are you going to cry?"

She laughed out loud. "I told you already." Her voice strained, and quivered as she kept talking. "I don't cry." He moved closer to her, but she moved away. "Look, if I bring back some bad memories—"

"Just shut up," he interrupted. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and petted her damp head. "Just shut up about leaving, okay? It's getting really annoying." The impenetrable quiet of the apartment returned. She struggled to get away from him, but he held firm. She gave up after a little while, sniffling. "This reminds me of Christmas Eve." She was quiet while he continued talking. "We were like this, talking and drinking tea. It was…" he trailed off, his eyes looking downcast. She couldn't see his face, but she knew what he looked like.

"It was the last time we were together. That's what you want to say, right?" He didn't say anything, and petted her head again. "I ruined your Christmas, didn't I? You wake up, and your girlfriend has disappeared without a trace."

"No…not without a trace." She struggled to look at him. "You left the ring on the table…"

The apartment went back to its impenetrable quiet.


End file.
